Rs 13,860 crore declared in IDS not mine, says Gujarat businessman

mahesh shah

Ahmedabad: Mahesh Shah, a businessman from Gujarat who made a surprising disclosure Rs 13,860 crore in unaccounted wealth under the Income Declaration Scheme (IDS) two months ago, said on Saturday he was us­ed as a front by some businessmen and po­l­iticians to declare the money and wou­ld name them soon.

Shah appeared at the ETV studio in Ahmedabad, nearly a week after he went absconding on November 29. Income Tax officers detained the property dealer to question him. Earlier he told the TV channel that "R13,860 crore I declared under IDS is not mine". The businessman said he had done the disclosure "out of compulsion" and was promised "commission" for declaring the wealth as his. "Those whose money was disclosed under IDS backed out at the last moment so I could not pay the first instalment," Shah said.

He said he had realised the mistake and would reveal "eve­rything" after providing all information to the I-T officials. He said, "The people whose money was disclo­sed are businessmen, politicians."

Shah, 67, shot into the limelight after I-T officials raided his residence and office in Ahmedabad following his failure to show up to deposit the first instalment of the wealth he declared.